DARDANELLE — The Sand Lizards were able to keep up with the Booneville Bearcats for two-and-a-half quarters before letting the game slip to the Bearcats, losing 27-14.

Booneville (3-2, 2-0 4A-4 Conference) drew first blood about halfway through the first quarter when sophomore Bryson May ran the ball almost 30 yards into the end zone off a hand-off from junior quarterback Cody Harrel with 6:44 left in the first. The PAT by Harrel was good and gave the Bearcats a quick 7-0 advantage.

Booneville scored again with 8:46 left in the first half after senior Jacob Jones ran a hand-off from Harrel into the end zone from the 2. The Bearcats attempted a 2-point conversion after an off-sides flag against Dardanelle (4-1, 1-1) moved Booneville inside the 2, but the Lizards held the Bearcats out of the end zone.

Dardanelle began to show life halfway through the second quarter and drove to the Booneville 8. Senior quarterback Evan Carter handed the ball to Nick Hendrix, who dodged the Bearcats defense and scored the 8-yard touchdown. Antonio Garcia’s PAT made it 13-7.

The Sand Lizards looked hazy entering the second half but capitalized on a Booneville fumble near midfield when senior Ethan Sigle snatched the ball and returned it for a touchdown. Garcia’s PAT was good and gave the Sand Lizards their only lead, 14-13.

The Bearcats ended the thid quarter with a touchdown by Jones and followed up with a 2-point conversion, then scored again with 4:46 left in the game when Harrel carried the ball down the right sideline for a 23-yard touchdown. His PAT was no good, setting the final score at 28-14.

Sand Lizards coach Josh Price attributed his loss to sloppy play, citing an overpass by Carter to Hendrix in the end zone on a fourth down and a dropped touchdown pass earlier in the night.

“We just got outplayed, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

“We preached all week that we’ve got to play physical and we’ve got to play with a lot of intensity and we didn’t do either of those things.

“We had a bunch of guys tonight rolling their own, and you roll your own and they’ll gas you, and they did. They gassed us.”